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South Florida visits Rutgers in key Big East game Thursday

Oct 18, 2007 - 10:26 AM No. 2 South Florida (6-0) at Rutgers (4-2) 7:30 pm EDT

PISCATAWAY, New Jersey (Ticker) -- South Florida coach Jim Leavitt would love to hand Rutgers a third home loss this season.

Leavitt's second-ranked Bulls visit the Scarlet Knights for a key early Big East Conference matchup Thursday night.

Rutgers (4-2, 1-1 Big East) cruised through its first three contests before losing back-to-back home games to Maryland and conference foe Cincinnati.

The Scarlet Knights bounced back with a 38-14 triumph at Syracuse last Saturday. Ray Rice rushed for 196 yards and three scores for Rutgers, which overcame an early 14-0 deficit.

Rutgers must win this game to have any realistic shot at claiming the Big East crown and a BCS bowl berth.

South Florida (6-0, 1-0) took a break from Big East play to crush visiting Central Florida last weekend, 64-12.

Matt Grothe threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 100 and two scores for the Bulls, who moved up three spots in the polls after multiple teams above them lost, and are in the all-important No. 2 spot in the first BCS standings.

Last year, Rutgers posted a 22-20 win at South Florida en route to its 9-0 start. The Scarlet Knights survived a missed two-point conversion pass from Grothe to Amp Hill with 15 seconds left in the triumph.